August: Osage County

I've never watched the Tony's in my life. But, Sunday night, I'm glad I accidentally tuned in. One of the best actresses, from one of the best plays I've seen recently, won the first award.

I have to thank my sister for the treat she treated us to. And what a treat it was. A heavy treat, mind you. Nothing could have prepared us for this show. We had no idea what we were walking into. We purposely didn't read any reviews or synopsis. All we knew is that it's running time was over 3 hours and there were two intermissions. We brought tissues, just in case.

To use an old expression, this family put the 'fun' in dysfunction. It was crazy and pathetic and sad and wonderful and relate-able and it didn't feel like 3 hours. We went through all the tissues. From the NY Times review: In other words, this isn’t theater-that’s-good-for-you theater. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that, to quote an immortal line from a beloved sitcom.) It’s theater that continually keeps you hooked with shocks, surprises and delights, although it has a moving, heart-sore core. Watching it is like sitting at home on a rainy night, greedily devouring two, three, four episodes of your favorite series in a row on DVR or DVD. You will leave the Imperial Theater emotionally wrung out and exhausted from laughing, but you may still find yourself hungry for more.

Each and every actor in this show was incredibly impressive. (We even waited outside the stage door to gush over them--we were hungry for more) It's the original cast from Chicago which, apparently in Broadway-show-land, is unheard of. And, according to Wikipedia,"a National Tour has been announced by the official website, and will begin in San Francisco, in August 2008". So, you don't even have to fly to NYC to see it now...

Oh, and regarding the Tony's...turns out they won five awards, including Best Play. Talk about a treat!
I'm not surprised.